George C. Eltenton

George Charles Eltenton FInstP (1905–1991) was an English physicist, specialising in chemical physics and a pioneer of mass spectrometry.[1][2] He was a Fellow of the Physical Society.[3] He and his wife were suspected of being agents of the USSR looking for US atom bomb secrets. He was named by Robert Oppenheimer when interviewed by the Atomic Energy Commission[4] which resulted in Oppenheimer being stripped of his security clearance, in the so-called in the Chevalier Incident.

George C. Eltenton

FInstP
Born
George Charles Eltenton

(1905-04-14)14 April 1905
Manchester, England
Died26 April 1991(1991-04-26) (aged 86)
Heswall, Merseyside, England
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
SpouseAda Dorothea Hamilton
Children3, including Anya Linden
Scientific career
FieldsChemical physics
Institutions

Professional life

After university in 1930 he began work at the British Cotton Research Institute.[5] Following a 1931 summer visit to a friend he had known at Cambridge, Yulii Khariton, at the Institute of Problems of Chemical Physics in Leningrad,[6] he was offered a post there, which he took up in 1933 and stayed till 1938,[7] only leaving because, with the Soviet Great Purge, there was suspicion of foreigners and like many others his visa was not renewed, so he returned to England.[8]

The same year he published a paper in the prestigious journal Nature showing the first identification of free radicals by mass spectrometer,[9] and was invited to the research laboratories of Shell Development Corporation, California to build one of the first mass spectrometers in the US.[10] Here he produced significant work on free radical mass spectrometry.[11]

In 1947 he returned to England, joining the research laboratory of Shell plc at Ellesmere Port, later transferring to the physics laboratory of Stanlow Refinery and producing a number of patents.[7]

Personal life

Eltenton was born 14 April 1905[12] in Manchester and studied physics at the University of Cambridge.[7] He married Ada Dorothea Hamilton (1904 - 2001)[12][7] (known as Dorothea or Dolly) and they had three children: a son, Michael, and two daughters, Ann and Jane.[13] Ann became a ballerina under the stage name Anya Linden. Jane was born in Russia.[14] He died 26 April 1991 in Heswall, Merseyside.[12]

USSR 1933–1938

Dorothea Eltenton wrote a book describing the family's life in the USSR.[15] This was a happy time, despite primitive conditions compared with England, and she writes admiringly of the socialist society they experienced as it developed, with its community spirit, sexual equality and people's local democratic participation in decisions relating to work and public services.[16] In particular they appreciated the free education and free health service. Her experience of maternity and post-natal care was favourably compared with that in the UK (a decade before the introduction of the National Health Service).[17]

On vacations George Eltenton was able to enjoy his passions for motorcycling[18] and rock climbing.[19]

US 1938–1947

Eltenton was an open admirer of the USSR and its people.[10] Both he and his wife gave lectures at the California Labor School on Russian life, and were active in the American Russian Institute.[7] He was also a trade union activist for the Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians at Shell,[20] and was at a meeting where Robert Oppenheimer encouraged the formation of a section at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.[21]

In 1939, with the beginning of the Second World War he contacted the British Embassy to volunteer, but was told his work for the oil company was better use of his talents.[22] In 1941 the USSR was invaded by Germany, and he and his wife became active members of the Russian War Relief organization.[22]

In May 1942, after the US had also joined the war and was therefore an ally of the USSR, the Eltentons had Poitr Ivanov, the third secretary at the Soviet Consulate as a dinner guest. It was there that Ivanov raised the possibility of atomic research being shared between the US and the USSR, and suggested three scientists who might be prepared to do so, if discretion could be assured. Eltenton was doubtful, but agreed to ask a mutual friend Haakon Chevalier to suggest this to Oppenheimer.[23] Chevalier reported back that Oppenheimer was not interested, but when the fact of the approach was revealed by Oppenheimer in 1946, Eltenton was interviewed by the FBI.[24]

UK 1947–

Shortly after being named in testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, the Eltentons returned to England.[25] He first took a senior position at the Shell physics research laboratory, but after investigation by MI5 was moved to an area solely concerned with refinery operations.[26]

Publications
  • Eltenton, G. C. (1938). "Direct Evidence for the N2H+ Ion in the Discharge Reaction between N2 and H2". Nature. 141 (3578): 975–976. Bibcode:1938Natur.141..975E. doi:10.1038/141975b0. S2CID 4041283.
  • Eltenton, G. C. (1942). "The Detection of Free Radicals by Means of a Mass Spectrometer". Journal of Chemical Physics. 10 (6): 403. Bibcode:1942JChPh..10..403E. doi:10.1063/1.1723738.
  • Eltenton, G. C. (1947). "The Study of Reaction Intermediates by Means of a Mass Spectrometer Part I. Apparatus and Method". Journal of Chemical Physics. 15 (7): 455–481. Bibcode:1947JChPh..15..455E. doi:10.1063/1.1746565.
  • Eltenton, G. C. (1954). "Some instruments for quality control in petroleum refineries". Journal of Applied Chemistry. 4 (5): 245–256. doi:10.1002/jctb.5010040503.

Patents
  • Magnetic method of pipe-line inspection, (1950).[27]
  • Photoelectric colorimeter, (1950).[28]
  • Refractive index measurement of fluids, (1951).[29]
  • Process for the purification of spent sulphuric acid, (1952).[30]
  • Infrared gas analyzer, (1954).[31]
  • Improvements in and relating to the preparation of oil solutions of highly basic polyvalent metal salts of organic acids, (1956).[32]
  • Process for removing coal and carbonaceous material from used sulfuric acid, (1957).[33]
  • Improvements in or relating to apparatus for measuring vapour pressure, (1957).[34]
  • Improvements in and relating to the preparation of basic polyvalent metal salts of organic acids, (1958).[35]
  • Sulphonation of organic liquids, (1960).[36]
  • A method of and apparatus for separating liquid phases, (1965).[37]
  • Rotary separation of viscous pseudo-plastics, (1965).[38]

References
  1. McDowell, Charles A., ed. (1963). Mass Spectrometry. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. pp. 56, 443, 542.
  2. Burk, R. E.; Grummitt, Oliver, eds. (1949). Frontiers in Chemistry. Vol. VII. Interscience Publishers. p. 199.
  3. Hume, C W (1933). "Proceedings at Meetings". Proceedings of the Physical Society. 45: xiv.
  4. "J. Robert Oppenheimer Personnel Hearings Transcripts Vol XVI" (PDF). www.osti.gov. US Dept of Energy. May 3, 1954. pp. 3874–3963. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  5. Eltenton 1998, p. 1.
  6. Eltenton 1998, pp. 14–16.
  7. The National Archives' reference KV 2/2166
  8. Eltenton 1998, pp. 191–200.
  9. Eltenton 1938.
  10. Carleton, Lee (1992). "Letters" (PDF). Engineering & Science. California Institute of Technology. p. 39. ISSN 0013-7812.
  11. Lossing, F P (May 1957). "Mass spectrometry of free radicals". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 67 (9): 499–517. Bibcode:1957NYASA..67..499L. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1957.tb46074.x. S2CID 83484170.
  12. General Register Office for England and Wales
  13. US Census 1940
  14. Eltenton 1998, p. 165-174.
  15. Eltenton, Dorothea (1998). Laughter in Leningrad: An English family in Russia 1933–1938. Anya Sainsbury.
  16. Eltenton 1998, pp. 188–190.
  17. Eltenton 1998, pp. 177–178.
  18. Eltenton 1998, pp. 14, 121–138.
  19. Eltenton 1998, pp. 57, 132.
  20. Bird, Kai; Sherwin, Martin J (2005). American Prometheus : the triumph and tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p. 238. ISBN 0375412026.
  21. Bird & Sherwin 2005, p. 175.
  22. Eltenton 1998, p. xii, Introduction by Michael Eltenton.
  23. Herken, Gregg (2002). Brotherhood of the Bomb: The Tangled Lives and Loyalties of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller. New York: Henry Holt and Co. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-8050-6588-6.
  24. Herken 2002, p. 161.
  25. "Accused Physicist Reported Abroad; Eltenton, Linked to Testimony on Espionage, Said to Have Taken Job in England". The New York Times. October 31, 1947. p. 3.
  26. The National Archives reference KV 2/2167:Letter from Shell, 8 May 1951
  27. US 2501598, Eltenton, George C. & Fallgatter, Marvin B., "Magnetic method of pipe-line inspection", published 1950-03-21, assigned to Shell Development Company
  28. US 2501599, Eltenton, George C. & Fallgatter, Marvin B., "Photoelectric colorimeter", published 1950-03-21, assigned to Shell Development Company
  29. US 2569127, Eltenton, George C., "Refractive index measurement of fluids", published 1951-09-25, assigned to Shell Development Company
  30. GB 676606, Eltenton, George Charles; Preece, William Alfred John & Hope, Stanley, "Process for the purification of spent sulphuric acid", published 1952-07-30, assigned to Shell Refining & Marketing Co. Ltd.
  31. US 2674696, Smith, Vigo N. & Eltenton, George C., "Infrared gas analyzer", published 1954-04-06, assigned to Shell Development Company
  32. AU 1721856, Dewhurst, Alan & Eltenton, George Charles, "Improvements in and relating to the preparation of oil solutions of highly basic polyvalent metal salts of organic acids", published 1956-10-11, assigned to Shell Research Ltd.
  33. DE 1005495, Eltenton, George Charles; Preece, William Alfred John & Hope, Stanley, "Verfahren zum Entfernen von Kohle und kohlenstoffhaltigem Material aus gebrauchter Schwefelsaeure [Process for removing coal and carbonaceous material from used sulfuric acid]", published 1957-04-04, assigned to Shell Refining & Marketing Co. Ltd.
  34. GB 768744, Sumner, Fred; Thomson, Alexander & Eltenton, George Charles, "Improvements in or relating to apparatus for measuring vapour pressure", published 1957-02-20, assigned to Shell Research Ltd.
  35. GB 795172, Dewhurst, Alan & Eltenton, George Charles, "Improvements in and relating to the preparation of basic polyvalent metal salts of organic acids", published 1958-05-21, assigned to Shell Research Ltd.
  36. GB 855774, Eltenton, George Charles & Osgathorp, Francis Derek Henry, "Sulphonation of organic liquids", published 1960-12-07, assigned to Shell Research Ltd.
  37. GB 1006694, Eltenton, George Charles, "A method of and apparatus for separating liquid phases", published 1965-10-06, assigned to Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij
  38. CA 714896, Eltenton, George Charles, "Rotary separation of viscous pseudo-plastics", published 1965-08-03, assigned to Shell Oil Co.
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